Crash Analysis: learning from our mistakes

[EvilSteve]

The section of road where he went down was essentially straight. It was after a turn so he may have been recovering from the turn still (late apex would have helped, not that we were really going fast enough to worry about apexes though).

Best bet in gravel is to get loose & let the bike recover - no inputs if it can be helped. I'm not dirt rider though.

I'm just really glad he's ok, it could have been very ugly.

[Bones]

OK, so now I'm a bit confused.

When I saw He Man go down, I was about 20 feet behind him. I started slowing down immediately and stopped. I stayed in a straight line as I stopped because my left hand was up warning the guys behind to stop. When I stopped I was roughly where He Man started to wobble and was already in the oncoming lane. That's where the turn was. His bike went about 10-15 feet and ended up in the dirt on the other side of the road. I was concerned because we were now in the middle of two blind turns and people were driving fast that day.  That's why I went to the western portion of the road ahead of the turn to slow down cars while you guys worked to get the bike out of oncoming traffic.

So from what I believe I saw, He Man began to lose traction right after that turn

I marked the locations here

[EvilSteve]

I don't know dude, I'm going from what I remember which is hardly an objective or perfect recollection. I will say that, for the rear of the bike to kick to the right (which is to the bottom of this picture) it would make more sense that he was either going straight or leaning to go left. For the bike to kick right going out of a right hander, it would need to transition from one side to the other. Obviously that's possible but didn't seem consistent with what I remember happening. From the picture you have there, I think he was in the straight section before your "directed traffic" marker because I remember actually indicating the evil gravel section in question before that right hander.

[Bones]

I'm dispatching a team to the scene now to investigate! 

[He Man]

I just checked the box next to "thoroughly confused"

This is what i remember... but again, the dude who got his head rung up probably isnt the best one to give an accurate picture.

Evilsteve, Remember when i stopped the bike on the straight to pick up my left boot slider? That section was straight. the bike would of been ~20 feet behind where i picked that piece up.

so, what i remember was, @ 25mph, a very gentle left turn finishes, and begins a straight. You called out something and were giving a serious shake at the gravel with your right foot. I'm very sure i chopped the throttle now.. but at 25mph in 2nd gear, chopping the throttle produces very little engine braking.

From there, i know i slid the front and it tank slapped, and i know my rear kicked out. Everything else, im not quite sure. Those ridges were pretty deep too. So maybe i gassed it when i tanked slapped and that cause the rear to break. By the time i let go, the rear had caught and i think that motion had the power to throw me off the way it did.

Does that sound like a plausable reason?

[Setsukosan]

Brief summary of the crash

Bought a 99' Yama R6. I was about three months into riding and thought that I was all that so I decided to push it 60 mph around a curvy road. Dumped the bike in a left hand turn to avoid ending up in a ditch. Slid across my back and watched my bike flip and roll. Thankfully I was wearing full gear (Fieldsheer Mesh Jacket, Alpine Stars gloves, Shift riding boots and an Arai Helmet). I stood up walked over to my bike, cursing myself the whole way, and picked it up off the road and stood there shaking my head until the police and ambulance came. All the people who saw it happened came running up to me screaming are you okay?! I shrugged and said i'm fine but pissed off at myself. Even worse than that, my mother watched the whole thing happen. She was about 3 cars behind me.

What you did right

Trusted my instincts and bailed when I needed to rather than riding it out. Wore all my safety gear. (The helmet doesn't even have a scratch on it, I still wear it today!)

What you did wrong

Got cocky and didn't take it easy as instructed by everyone I knew.

How could it have been avoided

Very simple, slowed down. It was not worth it. Although if you stand back I wouldn't be riding a Ducati Monster if I hadn't. Ha! But no, I am very lucky and fortunate to be standing here right now. Let this be a lesson to all the young reckless riding like me. It does happen.

 

[somegirl]

Bought a 99' Yama R6. I was about three months into riding and thought that I was all that so I decided to push it 60 mph around a curvy road. Dumped the bike in a left hand turn to avoid ending up in a ditch. Slid across my back and watched my bike flip and roll. Thankfully I was wearing full gear (Fieldsheer Mesh Jacket, Alpine Stars gloves, Shift riding boots and an Arai Helmet). I stood up walked over to my bike, cursing myself the whole way, and picked it up off the road and stood there shaking my head until the police and ambulance came. All the people who saw it happened came running up to me screaming are you okay?! I shrugged and said i'm fine but pissed off at myself. Even worse than that, my mother watched the whole thing happen. She was about 3 cars behind me.

I'm amazed you're here to tell the tale and also amazed you're still riding!  I'm guessing you kept your gear on for a while after the crash.

Seriously, glad you made it fine and learned from it.

[NFG]

This is a seriously great thread.   As a new rider every post here is valuable to me, either to introduce something new or reinforce what I already knew.

Very happy you're all alive to tell these tales. 

[Setsukosan]

Well I kept the jacket on but I took the gloves and helmet off to assess the damage. It was totaled. Even worse no one would help me pick it up off the road to move it. With my adrenaline still running I picked the 400 pound damned thing with one arm and rolled it off the road. The cop felt so bad for me I didn't even get a ticket and my insurance reported it at a one time mistake and didn't penalize me for it. I walked away with no fines and a shot self esteem. However the insurance was killing me for a sports bike so Im glad I got rid of it. The Ducati insurance is much better! 

Glad to be here. Ducati's are better anyways.

[somegirl]

What's more slippery than a road carpeted with wet slimy leaves?

A wet Botts' Dot hidden beneath those leaves.  Discovered while turning into my driveway.

Brief summary of the crash
Since the recent storm, our road has been covered with wet leaves, pine needles, twigs, rocks, and small pine cones.  The only clear parts are the left and right wheel tracks from the cars.  The DY line, center of the lane, and fog line are all covered with leaves.

I was headed home yesterday evening, slowed to turn left into my driveway, crossing the wet leaves.  All of a sudden my front went out and my bike slammed to the ground, on top of my leg.  Every other time I've been down my bike has basically just toppled over and I've been able to mostly get out of the way, but this was a lot quicker.

Looked up to make sure no traffic was coming, hit the kill switch and turned off the bike.  Tried to lift it but the road was too slippery.   I waited a few minutes until the first car came along and flagged them down to make sure she didn't drive into my bike (amazing how a black bike lying on its side blends into the road at dusk).   She was able to give me enough of a boost to lift the bike up and I was able to ride it up the driveway.  

I was questioning myself at first for how I could have misjudged the leaves that badly, but then realized when I went back out to walk the dogs and looked at the site that the reason I had slipped was the Botts' Dots hidden underneath the leaves.

Damage
Me: My left knee is a bit bruised and sore but that's it.  I am pretty sure that my knee/shin armor, boot, and frame slider protected my leg from worse injury.
Bike:
- Left footpeg snapped in half
- Gear shift rod a bit bent
- Sidestand nub a bit bent
- Minor scratches on the left mirror, clutch lever and turn signal
- Bar end slider is ground down
- The metal bar holding the frame slider is seriously tweaked now, I should replace it before I do the same on the other side or it will be permanently stuck.

What you did right
- Wore all my gear
- Had frame sliders
- Looked out for cars right after I landed, then hit the kill switch

What you did wrong
Because the Botts dots were hidden under the leaves I forgot to anticipate them being there.

How could it have been avoided
After the storm I should have cleaned out the leaves from the street in front of our driveway, not just our driveway.

I'll take some pictures later.  Here's a picture of what our road looks like (about a mile from our house) when there are no leaves on it.




Edit: Pictures now posted on the next page:
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=119.msg535940#msg535940

[EvilSteve]

Glad you're ok somegirl.

[Howie]

Sorry to hear the Bott's Dot got you.  I hate those annoying anti motorcycle dots   Though I would ignore my advice, get a doctor to look at that knee.

[Ddan]

Glad to hear both you and the bike are basically OK.  Now, what be these Botts dots?



*edit*    Nevermind, I found the link      

[TiNi]

that just stinks... i hope you feel better soon P 

[Stella]

Oh wow.  Sorry to here that P.!   

Glad it wasn't worse and that you're ok – but still bites.